The Pavilion Lake Research Project: June 26 – July 9, 2010

The Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) is an international, multi-disciplinary, science and exploration effort to explain the origin offreshwater microbialites in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada. The PLRP is led by SS Division scientist Darlene Lim, and it is commencing its summer field season on June 26th. (please note: Darlene is currently on maternity leave and the 2010 field season is being led by PLRP Acting PI, Dr. Allyson Brady)

The unique carbonate microbialites in Pavilion Lake are analogous to those that appear early in the geological record and provide a new insight into the earliest life on Earth. This summer, Pavilion Lake will be used as a scientific field training opportunity for three Canadian Space Agency and NASA astronaut crew members: Michael Gernhardt, Stanley Love and Chris Hadfield. By conducting research and exploring Pavilion Lake using remotely operated vehicle (ROV’s), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV’s), scuba divers and DeepWorker submersibles, this environment provides an analog to human exploration missions on other planetary environments such as the Moon, Mars or NEOs.

Please follow along with our field season on the internet:

The official PLRP webpage is your one-stop shop for all things happening with the Pavilion Lake Research Project: www.pavilionlake.com

Blogs: The PLRP team shares their field experience on our website’s blog. You can read the blog, or subscribe to our RSS feed here: http://www.pavilionlake.com/blog

Facebook: Click ‘Like’ for the Pavilion Lake Research Project on Facebook. This page includes links, photos, comments/discussions from the PLRP team, interested citizens and scientists abroad. http://www.facebook.com/Pavilion.Lake

Twitter: The team is tweeting throughout the mission these are brief communications to give an instant status on the mission activities. Follow us at:http://twitter.com/PavilionLake or @PavilionLake